zelda series

although i’ve worked my way through quite a few series by now, including the zelda series, i haven’t finished any remakes of any of the games, or any replays. i recently dusted off the legend of zelda: four swords anniversary edition on DSiware not long ago, and finished up the last two stages that i was planning on tackling this playthrough, which were the last two (of three) bonus stages in the “realm of memories” (more on that later).

a little history lesson for people who may not already know. the four swords game was originally combined with the GBA remake of a link to the past, and at that time required two people to play (my post on that game is here). the game was succeeded by the gamecube game the legend of zelda: four swords adventures, which again focused on multiplayer, but didn’t require it since the game enabled you to switch between characters and change the configuration of your team (e.g. a horizontal or vertical line) as needed.

this remake is of the GBA game, although it’s a standalone release and, similar to the gamecube title, has the new feature that you can play it entirely solo (along with being able to switch between two characters, the AI jumps in and controls the other character when needed). the solo mode works perfectly well, and from that perspective the game is already a big improvement over the original version. however, other pluses are that it was a free download, and it enables simple-to-connect local co-op with DSis and 3DSes (as opposed to the GBA’s multi-link cable). the DSi and 3DS’s second screen is used to show the locations of the other players and the goal but isn’t an actual map; it functions more like a radar, just giving you a general sense of where things are relative to you.

but the big draw is that this release includes 18 additional stages, more than doubling the amount of content in the original. these take the form of the “hero’s trial” (more-difficult stages unlocked by winning 5 multiplayer matches or collecting 30,000 rupees), and the “realm of memories”. the “realm of memories” is particularly notable because these stages revisit familiar locations from past games (namely link to the past, link’s awakening, and the original NES title). although the link’s awakening stages are spot on (and even presented in black and white) and include the same sprites as the original game, i was slightly disappointed to find that the stages based on the original NES title used the same sprites as the link’s awakening stages, although that’s just me being nit-picky. aside from the layout and presentation, those stages don’t have much to do with the original games since they feature the same enemies and mechanics as the rest of the game, but it’s a nice bit of nostalgia and a great inclusion in this title which was released for the series’ 25th anniversary.

all in all this game is a definite improvement over the original and enjoyable overall, esp. with other players. although it includes more stages, the game does start feeling repetitive pretty quickly (although not nearly to the extent as four swords adventures which was a total slogfest), and it’s still somewhat annoying that you have to beat all the regular stages three times in order to get the final ending (which i just don’t have the patience for). the zelda series has always been about the exploration and the puzzles, and so since this game is more focused on combat and multiplayer there’s not much chance it will rank that high in my list of favorites in the series. still, it’s nice to have a change of pace compared to the rest of the series, and it was fun to see familiar locales from previous games in a new setting.

the legend of zelda: majora’s mask (N64): the zelda series is full of standouts, but in the end i have to give majora’s mask the top spot. although the original entry, link to the past, and ocarina are all great and each did much to really define the series, majora’s mask was just so full of memorable moments. i found its off-kilter view of the zelda universe to be utterly compelling, and the 3-day limit, the expansion of the masks in ocarina (including getting to play as completely different characters), and the darker tone were all huge draws. however, the series of sidequests involving helping the NPCs in the central town were what really added a new dimension to feeling connected to the game. it’s a game whose drawbacks (namely, its time-rewind mechanic that often has you repeating whole sections) can hardly put a dent in the overall experience. a game that i’m really hoping gets remade for 3DS by the time i get around to replaying it!

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64): Whereas A Link to the Past perfected the series’s core mechanics and structure, Ocarina of Time added a sense of dramatic scale and cinematic sweep that wasn’t possible in the series’s 2D entries. A spectacularly innovative game, Ocarina of Time pioneered methods for dealing with the control and camera issues that had bedeviled developers of 3D software for years. What’s most impressive is that it managed to navigate the incredibly difficult transition from 2D to 3D while delivering the series’s finest story, most memorable dungeons and a main quest of then-unprecedented length. This is the quintessential entry in what has become gaming’s most critically beloved series.

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the legend of zelda: link’s awakening (GB): this was one of the first zelda games i played as an adult, and the amount they managed to pack into such a tiny cartridge astounded me. if i had played link to the past first i may have given that preference for my #2 spot, but looking back link’s awakening had not just the puzzles and action of the best of the series, but also a livelier cast, thanks in no small part to the required trading quest, a first for the series. the game also had some surprisingly emotional moments, including a bittersweet ending. it astounds me how much of an impact a handful of black and white pixels and some chiptunes can make.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES): The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past introduced dozens of series mainstays (the Hookshot, the ocarina, heart pieces), but is perhaps more memorable for the degree to which it perfected the satisfying formula of the Zelda series. The game nailed the balance between open-world exploration and scripted storytelling, between familiarity and freshness, and between satisfying challenge and well-paced progression. Its innovative Light World/Dark World concept was one of the most imaginative hooks to a video game ever, and is still being imitated today.

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the legend of zelda: ocarina of time (N64): without a doubt ocarina is a classic game, and it’s only a testament to the quality of the series as a whole that it ends up third on my ranking. much as i enjoyed it, having played wind waker before it really skewed my experience. still, the expansion of the zelda universe was immense, including the introduction of the zoras, gorons, kokiri, sheikah, and gerudo, not to mention epona, and i appreciate the leap it made from 2D to 3D. i’ve been enjoying my experience with the 3DS version, and will hopefully find the time to finish it before too long.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN): The wonderful thing about The Legend of Zelda games is that they start small and unfold into something grand. The Wind Waker exemplifies this better than many of its siblings: what starts off as a seemingly young-gamer-skewing adventure (due to its cartoony cel-shaded visual style) concludes with one of the most shocking moments in the entire franchise. …

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the legend of zelda: a link to the past (SNES): like ocarina, my experience with a link to the past was another case where i had played it after a game that succeeded it, so my viewpoint is skewed. although i enjoyed the game and appreciate it for everything that it introduced, its relatively light story and lack of characters made it less memorable to me overall. a high-quality zelda game that holds up even years later, but for me it’s overshadowed by games that did more to tweak the now-classic formula this game established.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii): Built from the ground up for Wii, Skyward Sword realized the potential of motion controls like few other titles and stood out as one of the console’s most beautiful games. It also boasts some of the best storytelling in the series, as well as our favorite take on the Zelda characters to date.

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the legend of zelda (NES): the game that started it all. i replayed this a couple of years ago (having played it a ton when i was a kid) and was somewhat relieved to find that for the most part it still held up, despite having aged more than the original mario or perhaps even metroid in terms of having any idea of where to go next. i honestly can’t be very objective about the game since i know it so well, but the gameplay, graphics, sound effects, and controls are all extremely polished and i think the game is still enjoyable today. a classic by every definition.

The Legend of Zelda (NES): The Legend of Zelda was a rare NES title inspired not by a specific style of play or setting, but an attempt to capture the thrill of exploration and discovery. It succeeded with aplomb, ushering in a new style of gameplay built more on finding secrets and solving puzzles than on fast-reflex fighting. Beyond standing as a triumph in its own right, many of the creations inspired by the original Legend of Zelda rank among the greatest games ever made.

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the legend of zelda: spirit tracks (DS): i can’t see why this game gets ignored, even amongst zelda fans. the game improved on phantom hourglass in every way. although it includes the same easy-to-use controls, it also focuses on an underused dual-character mechanic (link and his “phantom” buddy), a train-travelling mechanic that was much more fun than the sailing mechanics of phantom hourglass, and some new items and new baddies. even though it sits at #6 in my list, it’s still one of the best zelda games, and is on my list of greatest games of all time.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX (GBC): Imaginative, emotional, and packed with quirky humor, Link’s Awakening proved that a handheld Zelda could be just as epic as its console counterparts. The DX version for Game Boy Color even managed to improve upon the black-and-white original.

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the legend of zelda: a link between worlds (3DS): the most recent game in the series, and a sign that the series is still going strong. a game that cribs so closely to its predecessor (in this case, a link to the past) shouldn’t have drawn my attention nearly so much, but the game’s new 3D-to-2D mechanic, freer structure, and silky smooth gameplay were compelling. not to mention new characters including a new villain, hidden tokens (in this case maimais), a first for a handheld zelda title, streetpass battles, and the classic zelda mix of action and puzzles. a game that by its simple description shouldn’t have ranked so high on my list, but as a whole is a great experience, despite being on the easy side.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii): Gamers around the world exploded with delight when Twilight Princess was unveiled in 2004, and when the game was released as a Wii launch title more than two years later, it lived up to the hype. Once players made it into the meat of the game, they found a huge and stunningly beautiful world to explore, powerfully cinematic event scenes to marvel at, and plenty of well-designed dungeons to take on.

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the legend of zelda: skyward sword (wii): i’m not quite sure why, but although i generally enjoyed playing skyward sword, looking back there’s not a lot i found really memorable about it. at the time i was struck by how many of the mechanics seemed taken directly from wii sports resort, and the game felt heavily padded. revisiting the same locations with different objectives felt tedious, and there were whole sections that i found much more annoying that fun. in my notes i have this ranked higher than twilight, probably due to being more colorful and being a bit more original, but i’ll have to see which one holds up better on my second playthrough.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64): An attempt to cash in on the success of Ocarina of Time by banging out a sequel in just over a year shouldn’t have produced a masterpiece of a game. Although Majora’s Mask has less content than most Zelda entries, it features a mind-bendingly brilliant structure that has players repeating the same days over and over to make incremental progress toward averting an apocalypse. It may be the most effective implementation of time travel in gaming.

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the legend of zelda: twilight princess (wii): the problem with twilight princess isn’t just that it felt like a retread of ocarina, but that it just didn’t seem as flat-out fun as other titles in the series. at the time i played it i had said the game didn’t have “much charm, humor, or surprise”, with the exception of midna who provides the game’s best moments, even more so than zelda herself. despite feeling overly padded in a similar way as skyward sword, the game’s formula of overworld exploration plus tricky dungeons was still a winner, and still puts this above the majority of other games. that said, overall it felt like an average zelda experience to me.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA): Although Link’s Awakening started things off right, the Legend of Zelda series’s portable installments have rarely been as satisfying as their console brethren. The Minish Cap beat the odds by copying everything that made A Link to the Past great: a colorful 2D world, an exploration-focused structure, cool items, and strong dungeon design. It wasn’t the most innovative Zelda entry, but it was easily one of the most entertaining portable ones.

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the legend of zelda: oracle of seasons (GBC): the rest of the list is generally ranked by how much the games follow the standard formula. the season-changing mechanics of oracle of seasons were entertaining although not that much of a hook, but the animal helpers and the reworking of elements from the original NES title along with a very polished zelda experience overall made this a more worthwhile entry than some of the others in the series, and distinctly superior to oracle of ages.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES): … With side-scrolling combat and an RPG-style world map, Zelda II is a radical departure from the series that some fans call a refreshing change of pace and others consider an outcast. The game cuts down on puzzle solving to focus heavily on action, and it’s the most difficult Zelda game by far. Even the most basic enemies are tough, and once you’re out of lives and have to continue, Link is sent all the way back to where the game starts! Urg! Frustration aside, Zelda II debuted Link’s iconic downward-thrust attack, introduced magic to the series, and remains the only title where Link can earn experience and level up.

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the legend of zelda: phantom hourglass (DS): while in many ways it improved on wind waker, phantom hourglass really lacked originality. aside from the new touchscreen controls, which worked great, the game felt like a dumbing down of the zelda experience in a way that spirit tracks didn’t. the game didn’t introduce any new items and dungeons felt uninspired. still, the game was enjoyable overall, even if it’s not among the best in the series.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GBC) and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GBC): Although Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages are each full, distinct games, they were released as a set and certain items can be traded between them via a password feature. These Game Boy Color standouts are classic Zelda adventures, but contain totally unique elements. For instance, you can equip different rings to customize Link’s abilities… and you can use animals to help Link in different ways… We give a slight nod to Oracle of Seasons over its brother because of its titular hook — being able to switch between spring, summer, winter, and fall — is like having four versions of the world to explore and makes for cooler puzzles. The ability to travel between past and present in Oracle of Ages is fun, but A Link to the Past did this kind of thing first — and best — with its Light World/Dark World setup.

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zelda ii: the adventure of link (NES): even aside from its old-school difficulty and one-off game mechanics, the adventure of link felt limited in its scope. temples felt very same-y, and the overall experience felt fairly short rather than epic. not a bad game by any measure and it’s fun to see where the series could have gone, but not among the best in the series.

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS): [No text available]

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the legend of zelda: the minish cap (GBA): the minish cap was a cute game and looked great on the GBA, but it was short and pretty easy. despite a potentially interesting dual world mechanic (in this case, link can shrink down to the size of a bug), the game itself follows the standard formula without much variation. not one of the more memorable games in the series.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GCN): Four Swords Adventures isn’t a typical Zelda game; the adventure is split into various stages and works best with multiple players. Despite those differences, however, the onscreen action is classic Zelda. The game is also noteworthy for being the last 2-D console entry in the series, and it enhances the visual style establish in A Link to the Past with the extra power of the GameCube… Up to four players can help or hinder each other during the quest… The game really loses something when played solo, however.

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the legend of zelda: oracle of ages (GBC): although a lot of people seem to consider oracle of ages about on par with oracle of seasons, i much preferred the latter which had a more interesting hook. as NP mentioned, the dark world/light world mechanic of oracle of ages just felt tired, and coming near the end of my zelda saga there just wasn’t anything about this game that really grabbed me. we’ll have to see how my opinion changes on the second time through.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS): This [game] proves why the Nintendo DS is a great home for The Legend of Zelda. Stylus controls make the familiar Zelda action feel fresh again by adding fun interactions and abilities to traditional weapons like the boomerang and bow. It’s a drag, however, that Link’s inventory is smaller than usual. The game’s biggest drawback is its central feature: that you have to return to the Temple of the Ocean King over and over, exploring its depths a little more each time. Too much backtracking is required, and if you put the game down for a few days, it’s hard to remember the paths you’ve already discovered. Sailing isn’t as tedious as it is in The Wind Waker, however, and exploring new areas of the ocean adds to the game’s fun sense of adventure.

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the legend of zelda: wind waker (GCN): although i liked the visual style, i just found the game to be a big snooze-fest overall. odd, seeing as how it was my first of the 3D zelda games. rather than giving a sense of wonder and adventure, sailing just felt slow and tedious, and the dungeons didn’t seem to have a lot of the “wow” factor. it will definitely be interesting to see how my opinion changes after playing the wii u remake.

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the legend of zelda: four swords (GBA): most people don’t count this as a separate game as it was the multi-player game included with the GBA remake of a link to the past. still, i enjoyed it despite its limited scope, and much more than four swords adventures which took the concept, acceptable as a short diversion, and stretched it out into a slogfest of a console game.

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the legend of zelda: four swords adventures (GCN): one of the very few zelda games that i actively disliked. it took me ages to finish it, and i hated the stage-based setup and the lack of any feeling of progression whatsoever. the game really felt like a watered-down zelda experience, and although i played it single player i can’t imagine playing with other people is anything other than a big waste of time. there were some moments later in the game that were more puzzle-oriented that were more worthwhile, but even that wasn’t enough to save this game from earning last place on my list.

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well, there it is. the zelda series stands as a titan among video game series, and i’m def. looking forward to revisiting old favorites and, of course, hoping to hear about new entries in the future. huge kudos for all the game developers who have been involved with the series over the years, and here’s to many more!

after working through a significant amount of wrecking crew, i had some NES momentum and was finally able to start and complete a game that’s been hanging over my head for ages, namely zelda ii: the adventure of link (on the original NES no less, meaning no save states!). the game is easily the blackest of the black sheep of the zelda series, and it was partly the fear of old-school NES challenges that kept me from starting in on it. (for a run-down of the game, see check out the review at nintendolife).

overall, though, the game wasn’t too hard to complete, with the main exception being the last temple which required a concerted effort to get through, and multiple attempts to beat (esp. since i was missing a heart container and a couple of the last level-ups). [pro tip! to save at any time, press start on the first controller, and up + A on the second controller. also, fortunately at the final temple getting a game over and continuing simply returns you to the start of that temple rather than the starting point of the game.] the game was one of the many games i remember playing as a kid, although i don’t recall if i ever actually beat it. i certainly recognized some of the areas near the end, but i didn’t remember anything about the final temple which makes me think i hadn’t beaten it. perhaps my muscle memory from childhood remembered more than my brain did, because i got through the game pretty efficiently without any guides, although it was pretty much just a stroke of luck that i stumbled across one of the essential items that i had wandered by several times before, the absence of which would have led to a lot of aimless wandering, wondering where to go next.

as for the game itself, i enjoyed it and it’s definitely a polished experience, although it pales in comparison to most of the rest of the series. miyamoto himself has expressed some regret about the game, and although the game is definitely not a “bad” game, it does feel a little limited in its scope. the focus on platforming (and some cheap deaths that result) feels a bit out of place, and the battle scenes and temples tend to feel very same-y, not to mention its inclusion of a range of bizarre characters that, rather like super mario bros. 2, have yet to see a return. i have a vague recollection that the battle of olympus, which appeared on the NES about a year later and which i also had played as a kid, borrowed much of the same mechanics but improved upon them, so i’ll have to dig that one out at some point.

all in all, a nice change of pace from the norm, and it would be fascinating to see nintendo revisit this unique take on the zelda series. regardless of the quality of the game itself, though, i’m just uber-psyched that i’ve now finally officially completed every zelda game, and in almost all cases on the original hardware. whoo! i should be putting together my ranking of the series before too long, so stay tuned. i’m also looking forward to replaying various entries, mostly via their remakes, including the 3DS remake of ocarina which i’ve already dipped into.

fortunately, my fairly low expectations were exceeded and then some, and then some more. first off, the game’s new hook is that link can turn into a 2-D painting, and walk along walls and pillars, slip through cracks, and generally confound his enemies. this mechanic is one of the most compelling transformations in the series yet (better than the wolf mechanic in twilight princess, anyway), although once you’ve seen the three or so types of puzzles that use it there aren’t a whole lot of surprises with it. but overall it still makes exploration more dynamic since instead of just casting your gaze around in four or five directions, you now often have an added three or four to consider.

the other big change to the formula is that instead of having you progress through the dungeons in a fixed order, the game returns to the format of the very first game by opening up access to all the dungeons very early on, and you can choose which order to play them in. the dungeons are clearly marked on the map, which is a bit of hand-holding that could’ve been dispensed with entirely, but regardless the sense of exploration and freedom is surprisingly significant (helped in no small part by the ability to warp between specific points, which becomes available early on). the game achieves this flexibility by introducing a new mechanic whereby you rent the main items instead of earning them in the dungeons, with the twist being that if you fall in battle you lose all your rented equipment and have to re-rent them. this feels a little half-baked, since instead of having to re-rent you can just reset your game, esp. since save points are abundant and mid-way through dungeons a warp point unlocks, enabling you to easily save your progress there as well. the main items are mostly familiar, although there are a couple of new ones and the most-familiar (e.g. the bow and boomerang) are given much less screen time than more unique ones. several of the dungeons include items that help you on your quest but are optional, and there are many optional treasure chests that just contain rupees, some of which are fairly tricky to find.

although the map feels a bit overly familiar, even to me, who hasn’t played link to the past for some five years, the dungeons are all new and navigating back and forth between the light and dark worlds works as well as it ever has. in general the dungeons are enjoyable, although in the random ordering i chose i happened to start with some of the best (and most difficult), which made the rest of them feel a little anti-climactic. most all of them have a nice hook or twist which makes them distinct, and they generally make great use of the glasses-free 3-D effects by expanding on the multi-tiered floors of the SNES game, so that despite years of zelda dungeons successfully they feel fresh.

the main problem i had with the dungeons is that overall they’re extremely short, which in turn makes the whole adventure feel less epic than most of the other games in the series. in addition, there are quite a few optional micro-dungeons featuring just a few puzzles and a reward of some rupees. these also feel fairly pointless since rupees are never really in short supply, but they do lengthen the experience. the game also features something new for a 2-D zelda, which is a set of 100 collectibles for you to track down outside of the dungeons. like the golden skulltulas from ocarina, the mai mais are little creatures that make little chirping noises when you’re near them. returning them to their mother nets you minor and inessential upgrades to your equipment, but they’re a nice sidequest with a decent reward.

overall the game stays on the easy side throughout both in terms of puzzles and combat (although i suppose i am a series veteran). there is a “hero” mode that unlocks after beating the game and which offers up tougher enemies, though. the side characters aren’t as well developed as some of the more-recent handheld entries, such as spirit tracks, and the game feels lean in general, which is a very good thing after the padded skyward sword but has the side effect of making the experience as a whole feel brief, despite clocking in at a respectable 18 hours or so (including a lot of the sidequests).

the game is extremely polished overall, though, and although i’m not a huge fan of the link to the past type aesthetics, everything is very fast-paced and runs beautifully smoothly. the cutscenes are a nice addition, although there aren’t very many of them, and although i was a bit conflicted about whether or not to add it to my “greatest games of all time” list, in the end i had to give in. even though i’d put it just behind spirit tracks (which i really enjoyed) and thus not among the absolute best of the series, despite being a riff on a link to the past this is a really excellent game and definitely one of the highlights of the 3DS. in fact, this is the first 3DS game i’ve inaugurated to my hall of fame list (as well as the first game i’ve played this year that has made the cut), and i’m hoping that the changes, successful although relatively small, are the sign of even greater things to come for the series.

the same can’t be said for four swords adventures, which i had to force myself to return to again and again in order to finish it. the game is fairly lengthy, with 3 stages times 8 levels = 24 stages, each taking about half an hour = more than 12 hours. unlike the original four swords on GBA, the gamecube version allows you to go it solo by giving you the ability to put your quartet in pre-defined configurations (e.g. all in a horizontal or vertical row) and to control one at a time. in general this works well, although there’s one point in particular where you’ll have to backtrack much more than if you were working with other people.

otherwise the game is very similar to the original and features similarly brainless “pick up key put in lock” mechanics, although it does expand the experience with villages and dungeons (both of which provide the more-memorable moments, but not enough to offset the rest of the game’s tedium). to be fair, the game does get better as it progresses and the dungeons get more interesting, but like the original the aspect that really kills any sense of progression is the format of having stages since you don’t build up your abilities as you play through the game: the same abilities are available throughout. this lack of progress, minimal story, and generic settings made the game feel more tedious than any other zelda game i’ve played, and it amazes me that anyone would think of it as anything better than the worst of the zelda titles, let alone place it among the best games of all time as some people (including nintendo power) have done.

i can’t imagine that playing with other people would add anything to the experience other than exponentially more tedium, and i’m just glad that i can finally cross this entry off my list. on the up-side, the newest zelda game, for the 3DS, has been pulling in rave reviews, so i’m really looking forward to getting to sit down with that in just a few more days now.

i’m getting near to the end of finishing all the games in the zelda series. of the three i had remaining i decided to tackle oracle of ages for game boy color. i’d played its companion, oracle of seasons, a few years ago and had enjoyed that game, but since i knew the games were going to be very similar i’d held off on it, and for better or worse the game does feel very much like seasons. both were heavily based on link’s awakening, so already the game felt overly familiar, just in terms of the presentation.

in terms of the gameplay there really weren’t many surprises, aside from one wholly unique item, a unique race, and the occasional minor variation on previously seen items. as with seasons it was fun to see the animal helpers again and some 2-d versions of characters from ocarina and majora’s mask. although the general reputation seems to be that seasons emphasizes action more than ages, which emphasizes puzzles, the amount and level of the puzzles in ages didn’t seem much different than usual. the game’s central past/present game mechanic felt tired by now, so it suffered in comparison with the slightly more-unique ability to change the seasons in seasons, even though seasons is probably less unique overall due to its many references to the original NES zelda. as with seasons the rings felt fairly pointless, and the pair’s linking system didn’t really grab me either, although a playthrough in the other direction might make me appreciate that more. i didn’t end up bothering with the password feature at all which put me at a distinct disadvantage for the linked endgame since i hadn’t gotten any of the linked-game powerups, including the best sword in the games. this ended up making the final battles harder and more frustrating than they should’ve been, but i suppose i can’t really fault the games for that too much.

all in all this was a typically solid zelda game, but coming near the end of my zelda experiences it really didn’t feel like it adds much new to the series as a whole. hopefully by the time i finish the last two games there will be some new zelda games to tackle, and although i haven’t made much progress on replaying the other series that i’ve finished, it’ll definitely be interesting to see what i think about this game the second time through.

Like this:

although there have been almost countless mario spin-offs, spin-offs of other 1st-party franchises have been fairly rare. link’s crossbow training, released for wii, was a fairly recent exception, being, of course, a spin-off of the zelda series. when the wii was announced it was immediately clear that light-gun style games, which nintendo pioneered even before the NES’s duck hunt, would be a perfect fit for the new pointer-based controls, and link’s crossbow training was released just a year after the wii debuted.

the game is a fairly straightforward arcade-style shooter. there are several different type of stages: one that’s more on-rails and focused on hitting the bullseye of targets or approaching enemies; one where you stand in a fixed location and pivot around 360 degrees, machine-gun turret-style; and one like an FPS where you actually walk around and take out targets. the latter takes advantage of the zapper peripheral. the zapper is a plastic shell that the wiimote and nunchuk slot into, and the game was sold with it. although the zapper never really caught on otherwise, it’s decently well designed (not quite as perfectly as the wii wheel, though). the trigger is a bit mushier than i would like, but otherwise it fulfills its purpose of providing a bit more weight and balance than just holding the bare wiimote with a stiff arm.

although having different types of levels is good and it was fun to be back in the world of twilight princess (without the hazy sunlight graphics), the game feels fairly basic overall. as you’d expect with a light-gun shooter, the game emphasizes not breaking your combo streak by not missing any shots, and you can earn medals based on your high scores. the medals serve no purpose other than to help you track your progress, but levels are presented in groups of three so even if you do poorly in one stage you can still make it up in another. aside from a pair of fairly basic boss fights that help provide some variety, there aren’t really any surprises. the game’s clearly not up to the level of something like house of the dead 2, and even wii play felt like a more fun and more complete experience.

overall link’s crossbow training is serviceable as a side game and on a wiiware sort of level, but otherwise is fairly disposable. it’s nice to see a zelda spin-off, but i’m glad i didn’t have to pay much for the fairly forgettable experience.